Canada's junior women's national team showed no signs of rust after a day off as they handled Russia 66-50 in their opening game of the second round at the 2011 FIBA Under-19 world basketball championships in Puerto Montt, Chile to move to 4-0.
"We played great in the first half -- almost flawless," said Canada head coach Rich Chambers of Terry Fox secondary school.
Canada employed dogged defence, holding Russia to 38%(19/50) shooting from the field. Although the Canadians also shot 38% (23-61), their 40-28 rebounding advantage allowed them 11 more shots than their opponents. Canada also forced 23 Russian turnovers, stealing the ball 19 times. The offensive leader continues to be Quebec's Nirra Fields, who scored a game-high 22 points. Edmonton's Michelle Plouffe added 17. With the win, this summer's edition now holds the best record for any Canadian team at this point of any age-group at the FIBA world championships ever.
Chambers knew that there were some lapses for his team during the game, and will ensure he will prepare appropriately for the next game against Japan.
"Russia played harder and better than us in the third [quarter]," Chambers said. "We stayed in half-court man [defence] too long... Russia is good team and we knew they'd hit some shots. But we have confidence in all our players as we move onto the next game."
Canada's next opponent will be Japan, whom they beat earlier at the Torneio Internacional in Brazil as a tune-up to the worlds.
